Week in Pop: Esher, Lilies On Mars, Tynethys

As we spend our holidays feasting and vegetating, Impose's Week in Pop is here to give you a listen and look at what you may have missed, and a glance on what the future may bring. So in the Thanksgiving spirit, we give thanks for Kanye West's “Bound 2” video and adjoining parodies for providing dinner table non sequiturs, we give thanks for The Walkmen and lament news of their Washington Post announced hiatus, and thanks to Richard Hell for the gift of narrating a piece on the NYC underground in the first in a series of New Music Cities documentaries. So raise a glass, raid the leftovers, and check out some exclusives from Lilies on Mars, Tynethys, Esher, and others-in no particular order.

You may know these Sardinian Londoners from their previous self-titled release, Wish You Were a Pony and their collaboration with Christian Fennesz and Franco Battiato; and now Lilies On Mars premiere their brand new deluxe single “Dream of Bees”, accompanied by remixes from Julia Kent and Silver Swans. Best friends forever, Lilies Lisa Masia and Marina Cristofalo reveal that they are working on their next full-length album Dot to Dot for Saint Marie Records, with a first listen to a song straight out of the hive.

“Dream of Bees” starts with a seesawing organ that spills further affected keys and mystical guitar strings into the song's cyclone of swirling insect swarms. The worker bees can be heard in the flutter of flight, circling their honeycomb palace before making sonic dives to the surrounding garden to polinate flowers in the name of producing rich amber and nectar for dreams. The flight of bees, the dreams of bees, and the activities of bees are given lives that feel like fairy tales sung and told off the Mediterranean coasts where ancient Sandman-spells bring lucid visions of the evening into the light and warmth of sun touched euphoria.

With so much happening within the sonic chemistry of Lilies on Mars' original; San Francisco's Silver Swans bring out a new reading of the song with new keyboard creations, a different tempo, and a new percussive structure. Lisa and Marina create a song that feels right for almost any era, as SF's Swans sort out the song as a synth pop indie radio symphony. Synthesizers scour along the slower pacing that finds time to hit all the new defined drum markers to an effect that cradles and crates the contemporary assonance of the remix like a time capsule for rendering 10 years ahead of it's time.

Symphonics here are the key, and while Lilies on Mars make music that feels right for any era past or future; the scoring and underscoring of “Dream of Bees” can abide in limitless directions. So when Vancouver composer Julia Kent got her hands on the song, she turns “Bees” into a classical affair of cellos and strings sliding every which way and to evoke emotions of all sorts. With no vocals from Lisa or Marina, nor any stem samples used; Kent transforms an already gorgeous song into a baroque suite that finds a way to couple chorus and verse, to the flighty effects in such a way that would appeal to even the most rigid of symphony hall conductors. The single Dream of Bees will be available December 3 from Saint Marie, and you are cordially invited to tune in now.

Sending electronic cables to one another across the Atlantic, Lisa and Marina talked about their gorgeous single “Dream of Bees”, the remixes from Silver Swans and Julia Kent, collaborating with Christian Fennesz, and more.

How has your collaborative work with titanic forces like Franco Battiato and Christian Fennesz, how do you feel their contributions impacted your sound and maybe influenced in some way? That Fennesz remix of Jensen Sportag's “Rain Code” is on constant loop in our offices over here.

It's like working with two forces of nature! Surely our long association with Franco Battiato has inspired a great deal for our career and musical evolution. From experimentation to the need 'to express the concepts that must inevitably pass through a refined and intense research of sounds. With Fennesz there 'was an instant mutual respect, he loved our remix, we played together live in Rome at Rome Palladium, a wonderful experience. Coincidentally we will see him in a few hours in Cagliari, Sardinia. By the way.. it must be very pleasant to work in your office!

Was there any of this battle of egos or were things pretty democratic?

When the spontaneity of expression of art is so intense and pure at these high levels, the ego is put aside. Let's call it natural expression of democratic beauty.

“Dream of Bees” is like droning electric indie organ pop for beehive chambers. How did this song come to be, was it as the title suggests, via a dream of and about bees?

Fantastic question.. how to find the meaning of a song in the title. It 's not always the case, but in this one , the dream , the stinging desire like a bee sting, describes accurately the location of an individual who is facing the difficulty of chasing or pursuing a passion. Nothing could be more realistic than a daisy (as the protagonist of our song is called/named) and the bees, her dreams. They coexist in the same environment even though they are so different in nature, complementing one another one could not exist without the other.

Give us some notes and both of your thoughts on the London x San Francisco connection with the too-cool-for-school Silver Swans remix.

We love Silver Swans, we met at SXSW in 2011. When you put at your disposal the reinterpretation of your work in the hands of an artist that you admire, you are filled with curiosity as how this can live it and perceive it. The Silver Swans have given their vision to Dream of Bees making their version darker than our own, with a very precise rhythm that accompanies the song as their own signature. Fantastic job!

And what about the way Julia Kent gives you both the classical treatment, how did you respond to this baroque reworking?

As soon as we heard the remix from Julia we were instantly moved. Her reinterpretation is wonderful. We could't stop listening to it and at the beginning I just wanted to sing on it to feel close to her expression of our track, although I changed my mind, it was too beautiful and full of emotion to add any other thing on top of it. It's a strange feeling to hear your own song in a classic version. Really exciting.

Alright, give us everything you can on what's happening with the sessions for your 2014 full-length, Dot to Dot.

We would like to be able to predict the future , we hope that Dot to Dot manages to be perceived with serenity without any pretension. It's a honest album that speaks about our emotions, our chaotic life in the eclectic London and the melancholy calm and solitude of our land, Sardinia. A mix of lands, travels by a place to another, space between reality and imagination filled in almost 50 minutes of our new album.

&lt;a data-cke-saved-href="http://saintmarierecords.bandcamp.com/album/dream-of-bees" href="http://saintmarierecords.bandcamp.com/album/dream-of-bees"&gt;Dream Of Bees by Lilies On Mars&lt;/a&gt;

Between Sacramento and Oakland, the future of hip-hop evolutions has arrived. With the 'leak' of Death Grips' Government Plates, Mondre M.A.N.'s They Say I Struggle Rap, Shady Blaze/Blazed Out collaborations and anticipation for Main Attrakionz' 808s and Dark Grapes III album; Sacto's Tynethys remains to be an inventive upriser that folks are just now barely discovering. Tynethys, aka Nicky Samuel, carries on the mantle of where that 'cloud rap' hype is headed, mixing analogue tricks seen and heard on old televisions and VCRs that brings out the ghosts from yesterday's machines for the new synth terrains of today's sonic atmospheres and introspective verses. We got listens to his recent Lost Angeles tape, followed by his much beloved collaboration with North Oakland and the world's best duo Main Attrakionz, followed by an in-depth discussion with the producer-emcee on everything from his come up in the Sacramento underground, and the many projects brewing that have all of us feeling optimistic about 2014.

Tynethys' Lost Angeles tape bursts out the gates from an ill-fated try at music school in LA that left him struggling, dropping out and starting from scratch. Opener “Glitch” experiments with the title's implied effects while shutting down his surroundings “like Kmarts”. “Yinsane” pushes on that motivation in keyboard progressions that highlight the cloud corridor approaches of his Bay Area contemporaries, while “Broke” trips off the frustration of the SoCal scholastic experience with production that exceeds words. And the production keeps up on that originality on “BARizard”, that crashes through on “Goliath” that no doubt must have turned heads in the camps of both Death Grips and clipping. “Bucks” boasts some of that slowed-down psych element of T's steez, changing lanes in the new wave whir (and singing styles too) on “Renown”, to the dedicated rhythm and synthesis of “Workaholic”, the wild and bright lit (but still understated somehow) production of the LA Geared “Lights”, with the autobiographical “Nineteen89” that could have been an underground cut from 1989. Rising above situations and the struggle game, “Trouble” brings things to a personal level of real, “Super Naughty” slows down the “Super Freak” of Rick James, while “Didn't Have To” gives thanks, busting out hymns with the religous ruminations on the piano choral cut, “Hallelujah”. Closing it out is the opus of “Loading” that is sure to strike a chord and catch the ear of every listener in one way or another with inner thought zone verse and some of Tynethys' best productions.

The Main Attrakionz x Tynethys tape is one of the finest mixes I could have asked for or hoped for this year. Joining forces with our buddies Mondre M.A.N. and Squadda B.; tracks like “Spaceship Music” call it like it sounds, while “On1” reflects the environment the tape was recorded in (Friendzone's studio in Oakland) that coasts like some new money that makes Cash Money-Old Money on impact. “Life” trips off that mortal circle we're all caught up in, before “Higher” celebrates that hedonistic bravado that the Attrakionz are known for. Shout outs to today's technology, “USB” is one of the tapes' hidden gems, while “Lesson” schools the world on how this game is played, and “Strawberry Letter 316” takes on the Shuggie Otis classic “Strawberry Letter 23” that keeps it pushing on that “forever-ever” tip. “International” keeps the sights set on the world with their “name on the billboard, hands on the stacks”, “Verbal” gets ghostly and spiritual, while “Kinfolk” closes it all out and reminds you who and why Mondre, Squadda, and Tynethys are doing this for to begin with.

Without further ado, we give you an up close and personal view into the world of Sacramento's new versatile kid on the block, Tynethys; marinating on history while looking forward at future collaborations, albums, projects, and things you got to read to learn about.

You rock with a style and groove that is your own. What got you into the emcee and production game?

I grew up in church playing the drums and eventually went on to play other instruments. My dad used to own a few studios and he would always bring me along. Even after I unplugged the whole system in the middle of a session. All of that led to me wanting to make beats. And I eventually became a rapper and singer because nobody wanted to be on my beats I didn't really want to be a rapper until I was already one.

Sacramento has a thriving indie underground, beyond the Death Grips hype. Who are some local Sac town artists that have informed your style or that you're pretty close with?

First i have to.. HAVE TO say Illecism he basically taught me how to rap step by step when I was 15. We have a crew called FH which is short for Fly High and that's where I get my hometown inspiration from. Also Joel/Moses Freemind.

How did you meet Main Attraktionz, Mondre and Squadda?

Mondre and Squadda came out to Sac one weekend to work and I just went to the hotel room with a MacBook, mic, and a folders of beats.

That tape you did with [Main Attrakionz] is one of my faves of the year. Can you give us some behind the scenes knowledge of working with them in Oakland at Friendzone's studio?

They be working. Recording song after song it was a good experience to see artists work that hard continuously. I learned a lot and I appreciate being able to work with them, and the location was amazing.

How was the collaborative process of making that tape different from recording your recent Lost Angeles tape?

It was different simply based on the fact it was a group effort. Usually I work on my own and do everything myself but working with new people is always some what challenging at first for me because I'm pretty solitary. Making a group tape is still a fairly new experience to me while making solo tapes is something I'm highly accustomed to.

For you, what is your connection to the LA game and scene?

About the connection to LA, I think what you are asking is why the title of Lost Angeles on the last album and all the references. Here is some back story; I went to a music school in LA, went literally broke, dropped out of school and could not seem to find the cash to survive or make it home to Sac – so the whole album was derived from this vibe of being lost in life while occupying space in LA.

As both an emcee and a producer, what's the secret and skill to managing both roles and tasks?

I don't feel like there's a secret. I don't settle for anything less than what I want and I always give my best effort for both. I just practice like Jordan after getting cut and I'm not afraid to take risks.

Like “Loading” to “Kinfolk”, how do you create such hypnogaugic production flair? Some original, and unconventional-head-flipping things happening here.

I'm bout to use that 'h' word in a rap! But I honestly don't know, I just be my weirdo, weed induced self through drum.

What other collaborations do you have in the works?

I'm working on another Insomniak album with Illecism and a second LOG album with Moses/Joel.

Future Main Attrakionz/ Green Ova Undergrounds collabs in the works?

I have some stuff with Shady Blaze coming soon and hopefully me and Squadda can get our tape started asaptuals.

So we're pretty juiced on Thyluxe; what do we need to know about this album? Who do we got on this album, and what will it sound like?

I only have the FHamily on a few tracks, besides that everything is me. As for the sound of the album it's diverse. I'm rapping here and singing there all over my beats that's the best way I can describe it. It sounds like me.

What is the state and future of the Sacramento underground?

The sac underground is strong! Sac has a lot of artist that should be heard beyond the city. There are some real class acts and I feel the future is bright we got a lot of people making some nice plays so hopefully the sac underground won't be so underground anymore.

Tynethys' upcoming album Thyluxe will be available in 2014.

We just got word of Wellington, New Zealand's Esher who released an EP that is ready to be the soundtrack for tomorrow's most haunted spaces and indie films. The realms that Esher inhabits feels similar to those of fellow Wellingtons Black City Lights and contains familiar traces from the intimate islands of Sarah Kelleher and her Misfit Mod audio vehicle. Styles and rich textures that sound at home with the roster of Brooklyn's impressive Stars & Letters imprint; the elusive Esher makes the sound of memorials, music for moments of reflection, and more with the savviness of bedroom recorded pragmatism that combines keyboards and whatever programs available to translate a wealth of feeling into the audio channels. On this five song cycle, psyche yourself out for music that is ready for long walks. Longer drives. Cross country treks by yourself with the headphones on. This EP is a song meant to bring a sense of comfort to the loneliest and darkest hours, the wide awake at three o'clock in the morning game of sheep counting, and everything to help exorcise and jog the haunted crypts of the mind and exercise the innermost pangs and aches of desire.

Memories take over on the opener, “Playground”, wounds of resentment return on “Reasons I Left You”, the tribal synth storming of “Redhook”, psychotropic hot tropics of “DMT”, as the light keys conclude the self-titled EP with the friendly farewell of, “Gone”. Listen further on Bandcamp, and keep an ear out for more coming from Esher in 2014.

Fascinated by the fledging creative current happening in Wellington, New Zealand; it is our pleasure to give you our conversation with Esher about these new atmospherics, fellow colleagues, further developments, and so forth.

What draws you to these kind of atmospheres?

Growing up on 80's/early 90's movies with epic electronic soundtracks. Plus the mass amount of bedroom producers that create amazing music on soundcloud.

In recording your EP, what lent influence to the brief song cycle from “Playground” to “Gone”?

There was no plan, I just felt those songs were fun, good and not too experimental to scare people off as I find people lose interest if there's no vocals.

We are big fans of Black City Lights, who else is doing great things in the Wellington, NZ underground?

I love black City Lights, they actually pushed me on releasing this mixtape. My favorite Wellington artists would have to be Unmap, Secret Knives, Totems and Kariiiba.

Full-length details? Other projects in the works?

I'm not sure if I'll release a full length. Every song I want to release will have a different sound and feel to it. I kind of feel albums are going to die off and single releases on soundcloud and social media will have a better buzz. I'm working on a few collabs at the moment and hopefully sometime I could score a short film or feature length.

London group Fanfarlo announced news of their upcoming album, Let’s Go Extinct for release February 11 from Blue Horizon. In an album trailer made by Adam B Daniels, peep glamorous shots of the band, their dramatic sounds, images of nature, sparklers and more to get you pumped.

Seattle's Geist & the Sacred Ensembl released their Beyond This Vessel cassette this week on Moon Glyph, and shared a listen to a few of the singles off the tape. First up, hop along and drag a leg to “On The Next Full Moon”, where Michael Saunders brings the werewolves and vampirical edge that brings shrouds to cover the most festive of decorations and ornaments of hubris. Add some welcomed warmer slices of doom and grit to your holiday platter today.

Also get a listen to Geist & the Sacred Ensemble's “Seeker” that rolls like a desert wandering derelict dehydrated and looking for a nice cool drink of water out in the bewildering and inhospital wilderness.

Blu & Knxwledge dropped the track “DRAGINBREFF” from the Classic Drug References Vol. 1 box set, where Sweeney Kovar brings together CDR cats like Danny Brown, Knxwledge , Quell Chris, Ras G, amongst many more like family on turkey day. KNX keeps the beats kicking against some soft sax and piano tones for Blu to lay down some thoughts on perception, life lessons and more. Check it out via Bandcamp.

Maura Davis, of Denali and Ambulette makes an appearance in the surreal video for KI:Theory's “Needles”. Brought to you from director Amos McKay, watch as the drama and suspense gets futuristic as the whisper-cassette tape sounding chorus of the breathy voices of Joel Burleson and Maura stick with you via the refrain, “at the end of the day, no one could say they found the needle in the haystack”. KI's new album KITTY HAWK is available now.

Fresh from their US tour, Escort busts out the uptown dance and beats with the video for the primal single “Barbarian” from their recent released Cabaret & Barbarians. Stand up, and sing along to the bar-bar-barian chorus.

Savannah, Georgia Southern Belles, The Casket Girls are back in action, and working it out in an amazing way on the single, “Same Side”. “I swatted at a moth and a chill came over me”, Phaedra and Elsa Greene sing with a solemn sweetness as they bring their strange magic into the incredible pop brilliance that is already leaving us hungry to hear their forthcoming album, True Love Kills The Fairy Tale available February 11 from Graveface Records.

Superchunk take you to Brooklyn's Shea Stadium in the Scott Jacobson video for “Void” about old dudes trying to kick it and mosh old school from their Merge Records album, I Hate Music. Rock out like you used to in the olden days and let these bros of a certain age remind us all how it's either done or not done.

Keeping the holiday spirit in high moods, get a listen to MED & Blu “Peroxide” featuring Dam-Funk with production Madlib off The Buzz EP available from Fat Beats. More buzz, killer spit and beats from hip-hop's unbreakable builders of neverending legacies.

While we weren't looking, our friend Dan Casey of Yalls remixed Victory's (aka Robert Fleming) “Soothing Me So” from the Victory Is Music album. Listen as Casey sends synths shooting anywhere and everywhere over Fleming's vocals, as we prepare for the forthcoming of Victory's Soothing Me So EP slated for release December 3. Remixed gold awaits, dear listeners. Check out our interview with Victory's Robert Fleming here, and our interview with Yalls frontman Dan Casey here.

Taken from their December 9 slated single for DFA, Factory Floor cranks up the beat and volume with their video for “Turn it Up”, bringing abstract-analogue visuals from a release that boasts remix interpretations from Carl Craig and Laurel Halo.

Prepping their album Dreams for March 3 release, WhoMadeWho brings a brand new day, a brand new dawning, with the promise of a thousand bright days on the new single “The Morning”.

From the Everything is New Project, check out the heartwarming video for Rustie's beat-tastic “Boatsss”, from the forthcoming Boats and Marram's Sun Choir available January 20 2014 from Transgressive North.

Following up the excellent Exo, Gatekeeper's Matthew Arkell and Aaron David Ross return with the Young Chronos EP that breaks the hands of time in Gatekeeping fashion. From distribution via Pirate Bay torrents, Lorenzo Senni’s Presto?! label and USB sticks; get a listen to the sound of 2014 delivered early.

Also peep Gatekeeper's dramatic video for, “Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven” from AJ Gvojic, Gatekeeper and the Google Art Project that would cause empire building visionists like Wagner to quake in his boots-beyond the grave.

Taking off on a 3 month tour with the wily-Miley Cyrus beginning February 14 in Vancouver, BC; check out the sultry Grant Singer video for Sky Ferreira's title track, “Night Time, My Time” from her album of the same name.

After The Smoke slows down your roll with maniacal melodies on “Moments”, from Jamaica by Tallahassee's Rob Coin's upcoming Microwaves mixtape, available December 4 from EKOMS. Check out the incendiary visuals, perturbed POV perspectives, reality twists, time flips, and plenty of hazed out happenings on the Shomi Patwary visual presentation.

Preparing a full-length for 2014, shake your head along to the Christopher Mills b/w video for “Shake the Cage” from Morning Parade's Alienation EP available December 10 from SO Recordings. Shake it up, shake some action, rattle the bars, and rock the boat and kick out the caged containments.

The notorious Hopsin, leader of the unstoppable Funk Volume crew has returned with Knock Madness, and we got the wild ride for you to experience now.

Riding off the Rapor EP, check out the D33J remix of Active Child's “Subtle” that keeps the subtlety smoking in an atmospheric expanse of parabolic plumes.

San Francisco's A Million Billion Dying Suns has been rocking our worlds lately with the single “Plush”, and we are excited to give you a listen to the Strawberry EP. Check out our interview with frontman Nate Mercereau and premiere of the music video for “Plush” here.

Hiero's own A-Plus and AAGEE are indulging their electronica alter-egos on the upcoming Molly's Dirty Water album available January 14 from Hieroglyphics Imperium, and we got the video for “Time To Let Go” to help make some time and pass some time.

Your Vancouver favorite Teen Daze remixed French duo SALM's “Toy Spark Gun” featuring Dan Black. The new arranged keys are introduced like waves of nostalgia rushing through the mind and washing over the consciousness like a digital waterfall to coat the repetitions of lyrics like, “it's always there, it's always on your mind”.

Berlin beat-crafter Bryan Muller rolls under the name SCNTST, and has recently signed to Boysnoize Records for his anticipated debut Self Therapy slated for December 10. To help out with the holiday digestion of family and food, get into the synth-scape swirls of rhythm on the following listen to the tide shift of “Wavez Change”.

Also check out SCNTST's mix he made for our friends across the pond at Data Transmission.

Walk out to the water, sand, and mapped places of the heart, in the Terence Nance for MVMT Productions video treatment of Mélissa Laveaux's “Triggers”. Memories of the heart, sensuous sapphic interludes, and mysteries of affection are triggered and transferred in a bottle and through the roar in the ocean, in a song off Mélissa's upcoming album Memories of a Strange Bell EP available December 3.

DJ Sprinkles remixed Francis Harris's “You Can Always Leave” ahead of the upcoming Minutes of Sleep album available February 24, 2014 from Scissor & Thread. Check out the original from the Brooklyn artist who has operated in the past under the pseudonyms of Adultnapper, Sycophant Slags and lightbluemover, keeping the production mellow but enticing on a far-earth reaching accord.

Amanda Blohm delivered the video for KNTRLR, (aka Charles Davis and Michael Henry) where heart-rendering depictions and heart-wrenching feelings meet in the visuals for, “Stabs”, taken from their Spring 2014 slated LP from Goodnight Records. Catch them this evening, November 29 in their hometown of Brooklyn with Gay Blades at Asbury Lanes.

LuckyMe Records just signed Norway's Cashmere Cat, aka Magnus August Hoiberg, who lends a listen to the zippy number of “With Me” ahead of the forthcoming Wedding Bells EP slated for release on January 24.

Laura Hermiston from BB Guns and Brian Borcherdt from Dusted and Holy Fuck have combined their gifts and talents to bring together their project called Twist, sharing the piano drawn single and visuals for, “Where to Lie”. Look for Twist hitting up Toronto's The Silver Dollar Room on January 17, 2014.

With Snowbird's moon available in early 2014 from Bella Union, listen to Michigan's secret weapon RXGibbs rework the “Porcelain” into an ethereal synthesized wingspan of ceramic bliss.

With an LP release party at NYC's Mercury Lounge December 21, check out the Parlor Head Films video for Space Fight's “Who Do You Think You’re Foolin’?” off their album All Systems Wait. Watch the misadventures in courtly love, picnicking, yoga, trying and barely trying to fool your way through the so-called ways of romance. Check out our interview with the UK x US band Space Fight here.

For a little gentle folk-ish light to help illuminate your day, we reccomend a listen to the “Darkness” from Ottawa's Kalle Mattson off his new album, Someday, The Moon Will Be Gold, available February 11 from Parliament of Trees.

Ducky presents the transformative title cut video from her forthcoming Two Over Ten single available December 10, where body paint, making it hurt, and feeling afraid feels okay.

Our friends Felsen announce holiday shows, beginning tonight, November 29 in San Francisco at 50 Mason Social House with Gabriel Nelson of Cake's Bellygunner, December 6 in Portland, OR at Ash Street Saloon followed by a house concert in Portland that you have to e-mail the band about for further details. Check out their latest release, with Felsen Loves You now.

Maximo Park is preparing the Too Much Information LP for February 3 and lend some classic treats with a version of “Lover, Lover, Lover”, originally from the man himself, Leonard Cohen. Find them on tour in the UK from March 6-21.

Louisiana's Austyn Sullivan is Soul Glimpse, who this week gave the world a glimpse of his latest dawn summoning track, “In The Dawn of The Day”.

Cool Ghouls' Pat Thomas sent along a joyful listen to the single, “Not Right Now” from his Coasters Riding in the Air available now on digital with a December 3 release through Empty Cellar and cassette from Burger Records. With that 'everything is alright' sound that the Ghouls are becoming famous for, we can't help but smile between those Eastern guitar tones and lines like, “I've been East, I've been West, but the shit they got in Frisco is the shit I like best, yes”.

Check out the Jeremy Silveira video for Frameworks firework-firing, “Preamble”, with all the tour footage antics and fun from the upcoming 4-way split with Kittyhawk, Prawn and Droughts available this winter from Fair Weather Records.

Introduce yourself to Cleveland's Archie Green with the Cameron Busby video for his cut “40 Acres”, off his forthcoming album, The Greatest Pretender. Check out Green's introspections about how the various titans of the hip-hop game have risen up in the ranks, including his own come-up in a track that finds Archie giving thanks, praise, and counting some blessings-Thanksgiving style. Telling the man to “keep the 40 acres man”, this is some real testimonial by, for, and to the self-made emcee.

Carmen Villain dropped a series of remixes this week from Peaking Lights, and Bjørn Torske ahead of her 12″ for Smalltown Supersound available December 10. First up is the awesome surreality of “Dreamo” that brings second hand emotions into the infinite atmospheres of dreams.

Next up is the Peaking Lights remix of “Dreamo”, that adds extra beats and rhythms to the equation and another element of chamber busting echo.

Next from Carmen Villain is “Obedience” remixed by Bjørn Torske that operates on the mechanisms of industrial restraint and discipline.

Lookin at you, at the future ahead and everywhere else are the ever rising stars, stripes and spangled manners of Chrome Sparks with their brash-narcissistic brand of vanity, “Lookin At Me”. Folks are already talking about the Sparks chroming up the early oughts style of ATL hip-hop groove, where they turn it into a club-catcher that is already a must for our upcoming party-mixes and playlists. Their new EP will be available in 2014 from Future Classic.